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Aquatint by Pugin and Rowlandson, shows the Great Room from the completion of Barry's paintings until the alteration in 1815. The Great Room. Engraving, 1809.

The picture, reconstructed from contemporary prints, represents the meeting in June 1849, at which the suggestion was made to the Prince which led to the inauguration by the Society of Arts of the Great Exhibition of 1851. By Miss Anna Zinkeisen, RDI.

Painted by Anna Zinkeisen, RDI; 12,500 sold

Original painting was awarded a prize of five guineas and a silver medal in 1759. The artist was 15 years old and the silver medal was given in addition to the advertised monetary prize 'as a further reward for her extraordinary merit'. Mary Moser was a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768 and one of the first two women Academicians. 11,000 sold

Fifth painting in a series entitled 'The Progress of Human Knowledge and Culture', displayed in the Great Room. Key to some of the portraits on reverse of card. It depicts officers and members of the Society distributing its awards to encourage arts, manufactures and commerce in the presence of the then Prince of Wales, later George IV. Beyond is an idealised representation of the river front of Somerset House and the dome of St Paul's. In the centre, a young female prizewinner is being presented to the Duchess of Northumberland by Mrs Montagu, and the Duchess of Rutland and Devonshire are grouped behind them, a reminder that membership of the Society was from its earliest years open to women. The founder of the Society is seated bottom left.

Viscount Folkestone was the first President of the Society of Arts, 1755-1761. 13,000 sold

Designed by Miss Anna Zinkeisen, incorporates the features of five members whose portraits can now be traced as: Dr Stephen Hales (at far end of table), Henry Baker and Viscount Folkestone (both standing), Lord Romney and William Shipley (centre of table, far side). The others present at the meeting were John Goodchild, Gustavus Brander, James Short, Nicholas Crisp, Charles Lawrence and Husband Messiter. 22,500 copies sold.

The first known Christmas card appeared in 1843. The artist was J C Horsley, RA, who carried out the work at the suggestion of Henry Cole, a staunch supporter of the Society and Chairman of Council in 1850 and 1852. 25,000 copies sold.

The subject of the 1956 Christmas card was chosen from the records of Benjamin Franklin's association with the Society in view of the 200th anniversary on September 1st 1956 of his election to membership and of the 250th anniversary of his birth, which was celebrated in January 11th 1956. The designer, Miss Anna Zinkeisen, has reconstructed a meeting held on February 3rd 1759, of the committee responsible for fine art competitions, at this meeting selected candidates were interviewed for confirmation of their awards. The minutes of the meeting give a list of those who were present, and from contemporary portraits Miss Zinkeisen has been able to select those shown: Judges: Benjamin Franklin (seated), William Chambers (standing behind chair), Edward Hooper and James 'Athenian' Stuart (looking at figure drawn by Richard Cosway). Candidates: William Peters (being examined by Benjamin Franklin), Richard Cosway and Henry Pingo (seated at end of room). 25,000 copies sold.

Shows the Society's House on left

In 1758 the Society made the first of its many awards intended to promote reafforestation in Great Britain. A gold medal was awarded to Henry, fifth Duke of Beaufort, to mark the planting of acorns 'for the raising of Oak Timber' upon 23 acres of his estate at Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire. The artist, Anna Zinkeisen has depicted the Duke (in a red coat) listening as his steward, Robert Croucher, reads an advertisement of the conditions upon which the Society's offer of the medal was made. The mounted figure on the left is the Duke's sister, Lady Anne Somerset. Badminton House, the Duke's seat, can be seen in the distance. 24,000 copies sold.

Painted by Anna Zinkeisen, T R Crampton is third from left, wearing an Inverness cape. Awarded the Society's gold medal in 1846 for his invention of the narrow-gauge locomotive engine. Working from engravings and records preserved at the Science Museum and in the archives, the artist has reproduced not only the design but also the original colouring of the engine. 34,000 copies sold.

Painted by Anna Zinkeisen. In 1758 the Society of Arts offered prizes for what were known as 'ship's blocks', i.e. scale models of ships, in order to 'ascertain by experiments the principles on which a good vessel is founded'. Water resistance and resistance to rolling were two of the main qualities it was desired to test. It was not until 1761 that sufficient models had been submitted for the prizes but that year six entries, 4 32-gun frigates and 2 74-gun ships, were tried at Peerless Pool, near Old Street, in the City of London. 26,500 copies sold.

Shows part of the Nave and West Dome of the International Exhibition of 1862, with the statue of Queen Victoria, by John Durham, in the right foreground. The Exhibition, which lasted from May to November, occupied the site in South Kensington where the Natural History and Science Museums now stand. The Society was the prime mover of this great display of the arts, sciences, manufactures and trade, perhaps the high water-mark of Victorian material prosperity and ebullience in design. It was responsible for the initial planning, for raising the necessary guarantee fund and for nominating the managing Commission. The Exhibition itself was on a larger and more ambitious scale than its famous predecessor of 1951, and attracted nearly six and a quarter million visitors. 24,000 copies sold

First painting in a series entitled 'The Progress of Human Knowledge and Culture', displayed in the Great Room. This painting 'exhibits mankind in a savage state, full of imperfection, inconvenience and misery': not least being the savage animals in the middle and far distance. Orpheus himself, who occupies the centre of the composition, is extolling to his auditors the values of human culture. The countenances of those on the right hand who are attending to the divine lessons show 'the effect of those benefits which accrue to Mankind from the True Philosophy and Religion'. 19,500 copies sold.

Second painting in a series entitled 'The Progress of Human Knowledge and Culture', displayed in the Great Room. This picture commemorates the votive rites 'established by the doctrinal songs of Orpheus. Barry describes the scene as follows 'In the foreground are young men and women dancing round a double terminal figure of Sylvanus and Pan, the former with his lap filled with the fruits of the earth...in the other corner is...a group of inferior rustics...less amiable, more disorderly, and mean...Inthe top of the picture, Ceres, Bacchus, Pan &c., are looking down with benignity and satisfaction, on the innocent festivity of their happy votaries, behind them is a limb of the zodiac, with the signs of Leo, Virgo and Libra, which mark this season of the year. In the distance is a farm house, binding corn, bees &c., male and female employments, courtships, marriage and a number of little children...' an unstated analogy between the birth of the ancient Greek religion and Christianity, in which we can see the child playing with a bird on a string as the infant Jesus, his mother as Mary and companion as the Baptist, makes this painting of especial significance at Christmas time. 20,200 copies sold.

Founder and first Secretary of the Society. Minature presented to the Society in 1786, the inscription beneath is based on that of an original copper-plate engraving of the minature executed by Hincks himself. 11,800 copies sold.

24 members of the Society's Committee of Agriculture gathered in what was then the open countryside of Brompton, between Westminster and Kensington, to witness the performance of four newly invented seed drill. The Chairman of the Committee can be seen standing in the foreground with Joshua Steele, the celebrated writer on prosody, and Major General George Eliott. To the General's left is the Reverend Humphrey Gainsborough (a brother of Thomas), who looks toward the middle distance at the seed drill he has invented and for which the Society gave a prize of £30. The other successful machine, invented by James Willey appears prominently in the centre of the picture. It won its inventor a prize of £20. Willey stands talking to Joshua Steele and the General and pointing towards his drill. In the background can be seen the two unsuccessful drills, one of which was to be found to be 'capitally defiecient in some part' and the other to be too close to Jethro Tull's famous prototype. 27,000 copies sold.

On 18th December 1850, Charles Dickens, Vice President, in the Chair, Mr W Bridges Adams read his paper on Railway Influence and Extension. The Adelphi had been an area of mystery for Charles Dickens in his unhappy childhood and David Copperfield, in the same predicament, would wander about the district, finding excitement in the strange inhabitants of the riverside. In the foreground of the painting Dickens is surrounded by his characters and in the background he can be seen arriving at the Society. 31,000 copies sold.